Finally, a wrap-up

I've been home for a few weeks now-nearly three! But I've been asked if there would be any other posts on here, and so I figured I couldn't not write one final wrap-up. 

The biggest reason it took me so long to write this wrap-up piece was because I wasn't quite sure exactly what it was that I wanted to write about, which aspect to zone in on. The truth is, this experience was a lot of things at once. It was everything that comes with an exchange: a new culture, new country, new language, and entirely new university. This was also my first time in Europe, and my second time on exchange, meaning that, in addition to all of the "first" experiences, there was also a lot of comparing going on in my mind, not only with my home country and our neighbour to the south, but also with what I saw and learned and did in Hong Kong, and Asia overall.


After my exchange to Hong Kong, I always felt weird saying I had lived in China- due to both political/legal reasons (Hong Kong being kept at arm's length from Mainland China in ever appreciable way) as well as due to the experience I had there, the things I saw and learned. Funnily enough, I feel the opposite about Maastricht- I'm comfortable saying I was on exchange to Europe, but wouldn't really describe it as an exchange to the Netherlands. Maastricht is just so plugged into Europe as a whole (part of the reason that some of the EU's most important treaties were signed there), that often I felt more like I was on exchange to Belgium than the Netherlands. Europe truly is more integrated than other places I've been- at times, it felt moreso than even the Canadian provinces. At the same time, the way our experience in Maastricht was structured I didn't so much feel like I was given adequate exposure to local culture at all- exchange students live predominantly with other exchange students, many of my classes had an alternative Dutch version offered, and the University is mostly international students anyway. As a result, I made many Austrian and German friends, but few Dutch friends. I became familiar with Belgian politics, but not that of the Netherlands. Sure, I learned some Dutch, mostly from signs and packaging, but I also picked up some German, improved my Italian, and often found myself relying on my French to translate for whole groups of friends. In the most reductive example, I have two apps on my phone for Belgian trains and one for a German-based bus company, but none from the Netherlands.

Of course, this perfectly demonstrates the fact that I got exactly what I wanted from my exchange, no more, no less. My goal in going on exchange was to see and learn about Europe, and I most certainly did that. Maastricht is an ideal place for doing so because, as I said, it's so plugged into European integration- five of us exchange students flew home/onward on the same day, out of five different airports in three different countries, all within a 2.5 hour train ride (the furthest actually being Amsterdam airport). If that's not a global village, I don't know what is. And so I most certainly got all of the things out of exchange that I wanted in that sense.

I also was incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to travel quite a bit. The thing that got me the most about Europe was just how in touch with history the Continent seems to be. In Canada, most people aren't familiar with most of our history. When we do know our history, we either repress the bad parts, or place the good parts under glass (metaphorically or literally) to preserve them, in a way that removes them from daily life. This is not so in Europe. In Maastricht I ate lunch on 13th century city walls and walked past a statue commemorating the death of D'Artangan, of the Three Musketeers, during an attempted siege on the city. In Berlin, I was blown away with how frank and open museums, monuments, and even the tourism board, are with the darker side of that city (and country)'s history. The same things can be said about each place I went. The good was a part of your daily life, and the bad was on display so as not to be repeated. I don't mean to wax too poetic-I'm sure there are shortcomings here as well-but it was most certainly the biggest lesson I took away from being in Europe.

Of course, there are things I think Europe does less well than other places. I was shocked at how the Netherlands didn't seem to be as customer-friendly as I'm used to. Dutch people seem accustomed to paying for any range of things that would drive Canadian consumers mad-from 50 cents (CAD.75) to use the bathroom in a bar, to 70 cents (CAD $1) per packet for ketchup at McDonald's to 5€ (CAD $7.50) to get change at a bank where I was a customer. While travel in Europe is easier than at home due to (significantly) shorter distances, I felt that China's train infrastructure was better, its stations nicer and better maintained, and I found most of the trains I was on in China to be newer and more modern. I was also surprised to at little things, like paying for liquids bags at security (1€!) or having to walk through the Duty Free to get to your gate (which, in many Canadian provinces, would probably violate scent-free laws). The fact that smoking is more widespread in Europe than Canada was something I knew (and it is very true indeed); the fact that everything in Europe is highly crowded was something I didn't.

In Canada (and to a lesser extent the US) Europe is often held up as a perfect example of what to do. I think my time there has given me a more nuanced viewpoint. There are certainly ways in which I think we should strive to adapt European approaches-the Netherlands' famous cycling infrastructure is more or less all it's cracked-up to be, the walkability of European cities is great, and, like I said, I think we have a lot to learn from them about how to interact with history. At the same time, there are ways in which our priorities differ where I prefer the Canadian approach- free drinking water in most public places (including free tap water in most restaurants), not charging for bathrooms, stronger anti-smoking laws (and anti-scent laws), and stronger non-discrimination laws are all ways in which I think we are slightly more socialist than Europe (to say nothing of the fact that our massive empty country gives us a much larger measure of personal space!). There are also ways, by way of cross comparison, that I think we are more aligned with Asia- for example, in terms of convenience and consumerism (the fact that the Dutch equivalent to Wal-mart closes at 6 PM most days is something I had a hard time adapting to).

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't talk more specifically about Maastricht University, Maastricht, and what it's like to go on exchange again. The University is an interesting place-the newest university in the country, in spite of being in the oldest city. I found a sharp sharp divide between my master's and bachelor's classes (since I was permitted to take both). Master's classes were, overall, better organized, more interesting, and more in-depth (perhaps as is to be expected), but they also had much more reasonable workloads. The Bachelor's courses were surprisingly shallow and demanding, and I was not a fan. Overall, I felt the University was very welcoming of international students, but the level of organization was not so great, the facilities were rather limited (only one library on the main campus, for example), and staff were often not very helpful with questions. There's also the matter of "Problem Based Learning," or PBL, the teaching method which Maastricht so proudly speaks of. PBL is touted so much in the University's own literature that it was a major topic of conversation amongst exchangers in the first few weeks. In the end, however, I think it was overhyped-in Canadian terms, it basically consists of learning via case studies more than lectures, and the extent to which it is followed varies considerably from class to class. Maastricht, on the other hand, is wonderful. The city is gorgeous and extremely well-situated for travelling. The international student community is also very excellent overall, given how many activities are organized just for exchange students. Overall, I would say Maastricht is an excellent choice if your goal is to learn about Europe- the location, the courses (which focus heavily on the EU and do a good job of it), and the mix of students will make sure you learn a lot. That being said, if you are looking to learn about the Netherlands specifically, you may be better off elsewhere.

That just leaves one last thing- going on a second exchange. I think the key to going on a second exchange is, to use a cliché, that it is the sum of its parts. You can't think of it as a fresh exchange totally independent of the first- it's not a do-over, and there are parts of being an exchange student that just don't exist the first time. You can't have a fresh experience devoid of any influence from the first, it simply can't be done. At the same time, however, second doesn't mean secondary- I learned quickly not to think of Hong Kong as my "real" exchange and Maastricht as a consolation prize, and I think anyone considering going on exchange again should realize that it will be a different experience, but one that will benefit from all of the knowledge you gained by going on exchange the first time.